Apollo&Artemis: Hunter&Huntress
by Fireblaze
Summary: A new island, a new town, maybe a new crewmember? But what secrets are hiding in this mild town and why are the occupants protecting the identity of one boy?
1. The Village and The Camans

Hey there!  Quick note: I don't own One Piece, but I do own Apollo, Futai, Kiwamae, the Camans, and the village.  Lots of nameless people in the village and pirates so eh, but still!  No stealy!  If you've seen Rurouni Kenshi, trust me, you will get the Futai and Kiwamae jokes later!

Enjoy and send review please!!!

Luffy cautiously looked about at his crew, a slight tinge of fear and worry in his eyes, but that was quickly swallowed down.  He stood up at the bow of the ship and whined, "MEAT!"

"I swear to god," Sanji snapped from his restful Nami-watching spot, "if he says that one more time…I'll kill him."

"No you won't," Zoro chuckled from his sleeping spot against the mast, not even bothering to open his eyes.

"Why not?" Sanji demanded.

A grin spread on the ex-pirate hunter's face, "Because I will."  He instantly stood up and was about to tie his bandana on his face when Nami whacked both him and Sanji on the head, despite their distance from one another.

"Don't you dare!" she growled.  "Besides, we're only another hour or less from the next island where we're stopping for food."  Sanji and Luffy instantly perked up at the mention of food.  Nami pointed off the deck towards the ocean, "See, right over there is the island we're heading for."

"What's it called?" Usopp asked not even looking up from his chemical set.

"Dunno," Nami shrugged.  "None of the maps I have give it a name or anything, but I do know that there IS a town there where we can get tons of supplies for cheap."  Zoro raised a brow, skeptic at her lack of knowledge of the island they were aimed at.

Their captain however, did not seem to care.  "MEAT!  Aim that away!" he shouted with as much authority as possible.

A young man stood on a cliff watching the sun drift lazily across the sky.  It was only midday, but still pleasant enough to go sun watching and not go blind.  Deep purple eyes studied the ocean waters below him as if they would suddenly give him some heavenly sign that all was right with the world and he could go back to sleep.  Arms crossed, head down, and legs standing taught, he sighed.  Perhaps this day would be just as boring as the next.

"APOLLO!"  He spun around, broken out of his dream like state.  A pair of men, both tall and muscular, came running for the cliff waving their arms about insanely.  The taller of the two, a boy with thick blonde hair piled onto his head reached him first.  "Apollo!  There's a ship!"

"A ship!" he answered excitedly.  Both boys pointed out to the water revealing a ship slowly appearing in the distance and heading for their little island port.

The other boy, one with dark blue hair gasped, "That's not all!  It's a pirate ship!"

"Pirates?"  Now Apollo was interested.  With a quick gesture, they ran to the nearest tree, Apollo climbing it in no time.  He strained his eyes and tried to get a look at the flag.  "You sure Kiwamae?"

"Positive," the blue haired boy nodded staying on the ground.  He aimed a pair of binoculars at boat.  "I've never seen that Jolly Roger before."

"Futai!" Apollo ordered to the blonde a branch below him.  "Give me a quick boost eh?"  The large man complied pushing the smaller man's feet up to the last branch.  His bandana covered head poked over the tops of the trees overlooking the waters.  The boat was slightly closer, and now he could see the boat and it's Roger clearer.  "Is that a Straw Hat?  I don't think I've heard of them either.  Well, let's get the welcome wag – "after a closer look at their direction he restated his thought.  "Why are they heading for the cliffs?  Hey don't they go to the port instead?"

"If they've never been here," Futai offered, "then they might not know about the docks."  Apollo nodded his agreement and looked about the sea some more.  A familiar ship, coming from the opposite direction as the Straw Hat Pirates, caught his gaze, earning a glare and a curse.

His light frame leaped from the tree landing in a crouch next to Kiwamae, "Lemme see those binoculars!"  The man handed them over without question.  His childhood friend peered through them for only an instant before throwing them to the ground and starting to run.  "Caman Pirates!  Coming from the north!  You two welcome the Straw hats, and I'll take care of them!"

"They're back again this year?" Futai asked his best friend as he climbed down.

"Headed right into port too I bet," Kiwamae sighed.  "They just don't understand that Apollo won't let them back in again.  I mean, they have what?  Twenty guys?"  Futai nodded.

Apollo was running.  Running through the forests he grew up with as a child in a beeline past old trials and new ones right to the town he grew up in.  His mind was running about as fast as he was, "Bastards!  They think they can come back again!  I'll kill em!"

He stopped in his tracks for a moment catching his breath.  "Why the hell am I running?

"Much easier and time friendly if I jog," he chuckled to himself as he slowly began his way again.  "Yeesh, what was I thinking, running the whole way there."  He laughed to himself, enjoying the trees while pondering how he would beat the living crap out of the Caman pirates.

"Anyone know why there are two guys waiting for us at the cliff?" Zoro asked leaning on the railing of the ship.  They were only about a hundred feet from the cliffs and Zoro had noticed a pair of almost angry looking men waiting for them.

"Na?" Luffy asked jumping onto the rail next to him.  He put a hand to his brow looking on, "Who're they?"  The swordsman shrugged, but rested his hand on the swords anyways, just in case.  Sanji and Nami were both working on easing the Going Merry towards the cliff, so that the anchor would catch, the ship wouldn't run aground, and they could get as close as possible to the cliffs.  Usopp was in the crow's nest hollering out random directions, until Nami snapped at him to go ready the anchor.

"You there!" one of the men yelled cupping his hands.  "Pirates!  Please remain aboard your ship!" Zoro raised a brow to his captain, but he just smiled back.

"We," the other man yelled, "Futai and Kiwamae are here to assure that you mean no harm to our village and town!"

Nami gave the signal and Usopp dropped the anchor watching as it crashed beneath the waves.  The ship pulled to a halt a mere ten feet from the cliffs.  Sanji, Nami, and Usopp joined the other two at the railing regarding the men with little interest.  Usopp looked up at their navigator, "Uh Nami, didn't you say this is where the port should be?"

"No idiot," she snapped, "I said this is where we'll dock.  We don't have any knowledge of where the city actually is."

"HEY!"  All members of the Going Merry turned towards them.  "We are trying to talk to you here!  We know where the city is."

"Why don't you take us there?" Luffy asked leaning forward and resting his elbow on his knee.

"Because," Futai argued puffing his chest out, "we have to inspect you and make sure you aren't here to raid our village."

"There's five of us," Sanji sighed.  "How can we raid you?"  The two paused and proceeded in a hushed conversation about god knows what turning away from them.  After about two straight minutes they turned back.

"Well," Kiwamae answered sheepishly.  "I guess we can take you over.  First, who are you guys?"

Luffy leaped across the gap between cliff and boat with a large grin, "We're the Straw Hat pirates!  And I'm the captain!  Monkey D. Luffy!"

"Small crew," Kiwamae said scrunching his overly bulbous nose.  "Anyway!  Follow us!"

Apollo casually strolled into the main street of his beloved village heading straight for the docks.  One of the barkeeps ran to him panting, "Apollo!  Did you hear about the Camans?"

"Yup," Apollo nodded.  "That's where I'm going now."

"Oh," the barkeep muttered as the younger man wandered down the street.  "Good."  Apollo waited until he reached the very center of the town square before looking about at the frightened citizens.  Then he placed one hand on his hip and shouted out to them.

"Don't worry guys!  Code two!"  Most citizens began running inside automatically.  "Camans came back, but I'll handle it, just stay indoors and keep it all locked up!  Wait for the all clear!"  The rest of the citizens ran to their shops and homes locking them up and staying purely safe.  Apollo wandered on further to the docks and waited arms crossed.

A large ship had just finished docking, donned with a large green flag.  Its symbol was a skull and crossbones with a shaman's headdress around the skull.  Three men jumped off laughing and joking with each other heading for the town.  Once they spotted Apollo, they grinned slowing their pace.  The shortest of the three stepped forward towards Apollo, "Well, well, hello little boy.  What are you?  The welcoming wagon?"

"You can say that," he laughed back.

"Why don't you welcome us into the nearest bar then?" another asked chuckling.

"Can't do that."

The third looked slightly doubtful of his response, "Why not?"

"Because you're Caman Pirates," Apollo answered loosing the smile on his face.  His already dark eyes grew darker as he began cracking his knuckles one by one.  He shaded his face beneath short burgundy bangs.  "And if I remember correctly, this town has a specific list of those who aren't allowed back in this village, and Caman Pirates are pretty near the top."  He stretched his arms before him, laced his fingers, and cracked his hands again.  The pirates watched in curiosity and he balled his fists before his face, receiving loud cracks of his knuckles again.

"Who says we can't come to this town?" the first snapped.

"I do."  Apollo smirked looking back up and waved them over, "And if you want to get in, you have to go through me."

"Sounds like fun," one of the pirates laughed.  He and his friend pulled out swords and rushed for Apollo, one on each of his sides.  Apollo just stood there, completely uncaring. Just when they reached him, he dodged their swords, by turning sideways and balled his fists.  In about less than a second, he had brought his arms up perpendicular to his body, and beaten the two men in the head with a simple turn of his body.  They stood shocked for a moment, blood dripping from their faces, then fell over, swords clattering to the ground.

Apollo turned stonily to the last remaining one, "Why don't you go tell your captain that this town refuses him and any of his men to enter the proximities?  If he wants in, then he has to go through me!  Now pick up your buddies and go."

The final pirate, without even picking up his crewmates, ran away.

"Futai here!"

"And Kiwamae!"

"We've brought a small crew that wants to buy supplies and stay in town for a while!" they both chorused.  The small gates to the town opened up and a single man, around fifty stepped forwards quieting them.

"Be quiet you two," he hissed.  "Apollo is taking care of the Caman pirates!  We're on a Code two!"

Sanji pushed them back, "Wait, Caman Pirates?"

"Are they attacking the town?" Nami asked in a hushed voice.

"No," the old man answered.  "You see, we're a pretty peaceful town…"

"That's what they all say," Zoro scoffed.

"…and we have a strict law that we abide by.  If people cause us trouble, they are banned from the town indefinitely.  One of the young men in our town, Apollo, has been keeping this town safe by enforcing that law.  Last year, the Camans caused so much trouble they nearly killed twenty people, so Apollo banned them.  They just came back today, and boy is that kid pissed."

Luffy smiled that insane grin of his, "Apollo?  Pirates?  I wanna see this!" Without waiting for anything, he bolted into the town wanting to see Apollo and the pirates.

"Luffy you moron come back!" Zoro growled giving chase. Sanji, Usopp, Nami, Futai, and Kiwamae followed after running at top speed.  When they reached him, he was stopped stock still in the middle of the street watching something.  There in the street, was a man, a young man, no older than Sanji or Zoro, in a baggy, long sleeved black shirt in the middle of a circle made up of twenty men.  All of those me were armed, and looked very dangerous.  Zoro reached for his swords, "That kid is gonna get killed."

"I don't think so," Luffy shook his head tilting his hat back.  He smiled again, "I wanna see him fight.  He looks cool!"

"What an idiot," Nami grumbled, but no one argued with the captain.  In a mere moment, the fight began.  The boy fighting was like liquid, like silk.  He slipped in between the weapons, people, and bodes like it was nothing.  He kept them away from him, but didn't even bother attacking.  Sanji stared in disbelief, "What is he doing?"

Futai nodded pensively, "Ah, he wants them to get in a neater position first."

"One he gets them all on one side of him," Kiwamae continued, "then he can fight better.  Or at least in a way he has more fun."

Apollo's face was turned to them for a brief moment, and for that moment, Zoro thought he had found a twin.  The boy's smirk of confidence reminded him so much of himself when in a fight that he cracked a smile as well.  After that smirk, the boy leaned back on his foot farthest from the pirates.  His left fist wet straight out in front of him and his right kept tucked close to his chin.  In a loud voice he shouted, "It's over!"

Like lightening he shot.  In a straight line he went, right and left fist alternating back and forth in a fury knocking into the pirates.  When half of them realized what h was doing, they attacked back, but it was in vain.  He spun, dived, ducked, dodged, and moved in all the right ways to escape their attacks and land hits of his own.  His smile never wavered, his eyes shone a bright gleaming purple, and his fists pounded into them all until only one was left standing before him.  He cautiously stepped over to the man, who had on a large hat covered with feathers.  The boy's voice laughed, "Hey Captain."

"You bastard!" the man growled, his hands shaking and gripping the sword before him.  "How dare you disgrace me you punk kid!"

"Captain," the boy laughed, "it's your own damn fault."  His voice grew serious and cold as he crossed his arms, "You're the one who betrayed the law here!  We specifically said that you and your men could never come here again, and yet here you are!  I said you could leave, but no, you had to go and start a fight.  Now I suggest you leave."

"Never!  I'll kill you!"

"This kid's in a mess of trouble," Sanji sighed lighting a cigarette.

"You don't know our Apollo!" Futai cheered.  "One man alone with a sword?  Nothing.  Especially not when he defeated him once last year."  The Straw Hat pirates took a glance at the two locals then turned back to the fight.  Apollo shrugged and walked closer to the pirate.  He stepped back out of fear, so the kid stepped closer.  This repeated itself about five times, until he pirate was only two feet away from the face of a shop.

Without much warning, the pirate grew a look of pain ad confusion on his face, and then promptly fell over.  Behind him was revealed a young boy, about eight years old, gripping a large club in his hands and looking very shocked.  Apollo broke out into a laugh, "Nice one kid!  But aren't you supposed to be inside?"

"Uhhhh," he stammered.

"Ah forget it," he laughed again ruffling his hair.  "Helping me bring down the bad guys; I might have to give you my job when I quit."

As if remembering that they were an audience, Luffy clapped his hands, "Wow!"

"Huh?" he turned around smiling at the Going Merry crew.  "Oh thanks."


	2. The Boy and The Crew

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece, but I do own Apollo, Futai, Kiwamae, the Camans, and the village. Lots of nameless people in the village and pirates so eh, but still! No stealy! If you've seen Rurouni Kenshi, trust me, you will get the Futai and Kiwamae jokes later!

Enjoy and send reviews please!!!

"That was seriously cool!" Luffy cheered running over to the young man. "You just hit all of them and whammo!" he made a pretend punch into the air, still grinning like the loveable idiot he was.

"Thanks a lot!" the young man called Apollo smiled. He balled his fist in front of him, "I've been practicing a lot you know! Those guys were lame anyway."

Both young men laughed insanely as if some inside joke were shared between the two strangers. Luffy's stomach grumbled and he sat on the ground screaming, "Hungry!!!"

"Oh," Apollo blinked. He laughed with a friendly, yet soft, smile on his face and said, "Then let's get you some grub! Anybody who visits this village deserves a good meal, it is after all a long trip from here to the nearest island." He pulled Luffy to his feet and shook his hand, "I'm Apollo."

"Captain Luffy!" the straw hat wearing boy cheerfully greeted. He gestured back to the others, "This is my crew."

A realization came over the older boy's face as he spotted his hat, "So that was your ship I saw pulling in towards the cliffs! Didn't you guys know that the dock was right over here?"

"No." Nami glared at Zoro and Usopp's simultaneous response. Apollo shrugged it off and gave a crisp order to Futai and Kiwamae to lead the pirates to their home and make sure they were comfortable.

He looked back at the young boy who had aided him in the fight, "Go give the all clear for me huh?" The little boy nodded furiously. "Oh yeah, and get me some rope, I need to tie up the captain then we can pile 'em up and give the marines a call." The boy nodded again and tossed him rope that was hanging from his belt. Zoro and Sanji strayed behind to watch as Apollo tied up the Captain to a large flagpole in the square, dusted his hands off, and nodded to the group of elder men that started to convene in the square. "Right, get these boys chucked onto their boat, we only need the Captain for the reward. He ain't much, but he deserves worse."

"Right Apollo!" most of them nodded. One of the clapped him on the back as he passed, "Nice punch Apollo, you got balls huh?" Apollo lowered his gaze, but chuckled good-naturedly.

Sanji turned to Zoro, still watching the fighter. "Seem off to you how easily they handle pirates, or was it just that they're really crappy?"

"Could be a combination of the two," Zoro added. Apollo looked up seeing them watching and jogged to catch up with them. Zoro waited for the boy as he caught them with a small smile lighting his feminine face. He narrowed his eyes a bit at noticing this: for a tough kid he looked a little girly, but then again, Luffy could be confused for a girl if you slammed a wig on his head too. "This happen often?"

"Not really," Apollo shrugged. He let one hand rest idly in the pocket of his pants. Sanji thought they were pretty strange pants for they were baggy enough to hide the real shape of the leg and yet hung in a non-conforming way like his own slacks. "Guys like that appear every so often, but we haven't had any serious trouble for a few years, just jerks like them who think they own all East Blue." He suddenly laughed, "I mean, it isn't like their Arlong or something!"

"You've heard of Arlong?" Zoro asked as they approached an average looking cottage at the end of the street.

"Heard he got his butt kicked," the boy answered. His eyes glazed over in awe, "Man, if I met the guy who knocked him down, hell, I'd bow to him or something."

"You already did," Sanji laughed. Apollo turned to him in curiosity and confusion as he opened the door for him to the cottage. Luffy was seated at a table past the doorway fork and knife in hand already. The chef rolled his eyes jerking a thumb at him, "That's your man." Apollo's jaw dropped, but his eyes still lit with a smile as if knowing that he was in for an adventure already.

"You're here!" Luffy cheered shooting to his feet. "Feed me!"

Nami gave him a decent wallop on the back of the head, "Please ya moron!"

Apollo smiled broadly at him and pointed into the kitchen, "I got just the idea of what I can make you guys! Shouldn't take long either," he mused thinking about it. He turned to his two friends, "Futai, Kiwamae, you two amuse them until it's ready ok?"

"Mind if I lend a hand?" Sanji asked. Apollo turned to him in confusion. "I'm kind of the official chef on the Going Merry, besides, I need something to do."

"Great!" the slightly older boy answered. "It'll go twice as fast." He led him into another room with a promise of good food in a short while. Nami and Usopp settled at the table about to discuss how long they should stay, what supplies to stock up on, and so forth. Luffy just looked around him curious as to why there was no food yet. Zoro glanced around the room studying the setting. It was peaceful looking, but obvious that three males lived there since it seemed like something of each boy was left somewhere. Resting his elbow placidly on the hilt of his sword he sighed; hopefully it wouldn't stay too calm around here.

That sudden motion of his seemed to set off their two hosts. "Oh my god!!! It's Roronoa Zoro!"

"Why didn't we see that earlier?" Kiwamae gasped. Zoro turned to them with a raised brow. They both were standing in total shock and admiration staring at him like he was a piece of history. "Are you really Roronoa Zoro?"

"Yes," he responded slowly wondering if he was developing a fan club. Both automatically cheered and jumped up and down.

"WOW!" Futai hollered, blonde hair nearly coming loose from his ponytail. "Can we show you something? I mean, we've been following you and your work ever since you started hunting pirates!" The other man nodded fiercely as if he couldn't express it in words. "Please Mr. Zoro? We'd feel very honored if you came to look?"

"Yeah Mr. Zoro," Nami teased batting her eyes at him. "Won't you?"

"Shut up stupid woman," he growled. He turned to them as they smiled and pleaded with their eyes, "I guess so, why not?"

There was a pause of silence in their shock, but both Futai and Kiwamae burst into shrieks of joy as they dragged him into another room and led him up a stairwell. It was almost exactly like having a younger version of Joni and Yosaku around again, he even found himself smiling. They babbled about how long they had been watching for his works and how they knew about every single capture he had made so far, and how cool he was, and blah blah blah. They opened up a door, obviously to their room, as Futai announced, "This is our Wall of Roronoa Zoro's Accomplishments!"

"And some of our own," Kiwamae added, "and others we haven't gotten to yet but know someone will." Along one entire wall was wanted poster after wanted poster. There wasn't a space on it that didn't have a poster somewhere. Many of them had a green slash across them: ones Zoro had defeated. Others had a blue slash: most of those faces he recognized as having been captured by marines. A few, but not very many had a red slash through them and dates written on them. Kiwamae noticed his attention on them and smiled broadly, "Those are the ones we captured, with a little help from Apollo sometimes."

It was very obvious, just by having met the three, that Apollo did most of the work.

"Who's this?" he asked pointing a ma with a black line accenting his bounty and name.

"Oh him," Futai whistled. The man had a dark, sinister, and twisted smile on his face. Many of the others did too, but this just seemed like it would send shivers up the spine easier. The fact that he also had a giant spider standing behind him didn't help. "Some freaky guy that came here a few years ago. We almost had him, but we're not sure if we should go after him again. Apollo doesn't know that we still have this one."

Zoro nodded half paying attention. The smug look on the pirate's face just made him want to slap him, and the creature towering in the background screamed trouble. "Interesting."

"Oi Luffy quit being a pain in the ass!" Sanji snapped from the kitchen hearing his precious Nami whining at his presence. Instantly going back to his sweeter side he crooned, "Nami why don't you come in here with us?"

"Sounds good," she huffed jumping at the chance. Apollo was peeling whatever Sanji handed him, no complaints and no questions. Sanji threw him a potato, and Apollo peeled it; tossed him an onion, peeled and sliced by Apollo. The bandana-covered head was concentrated on whatever his black clad sleeves held. He was almost amazed at how helpful the boy was without actually doing anything, and the fact that he was the one who was supposed to be cooking in the first place. Nami looked at the two cooks with slight annoyance; usually Sanji would be so busy flirting with her that it was a shocker that he ever finished cooking. While he might not do her every will since he was so engrossed, perhaps Apollo would bend to her will. She sneaked up next to him playing coy, "Hey Apollo?"

"Yeah?" he asked not taking his eyes form the knife he was using.

A thought struck her, so she giggled. "You don't even know our names, except for Luffy of course." He smirked and gave her a friendly smile before going back. "I'm Nami, the unofficial navigator."

"Good thing to have on a ship," he nodded.

"Could you do me a favor?" she cooed clinging to his arm. He paused for a moment; she was weakening him! "Can you get me something to drink? I'm really thirsty." Sanji didn't even seem to realize what was going on, and Apollo just blinked at her.

And turned back to his work helping Sanji load the chopped bits into the frying pan. "There's a cooler over in the corner, help yourself."

"But could you get me one?" she pleaded batting her lashes at him. He just scoffed and pointed to where the cooler was.

"It's right there," he laughed as if she were being ridiculous. "Not even ten feet, go on and help yourself Nami." She tried not to smack him for his insolence, but stormed out of the kitchen for her failure. Apollo just blinked and turned to the blonde cook, "Did I say something to offend her?"

Zoro attempted to concentrate more on his clunking footsteps down the stairs then on the two men behind him babbling over and over about his great conquests and whatnot. When he hit the bottom of the stairs, Apollo came out of the kitchen wiping his hands on a towel. "Sanji said it should be done in a few. So not much longer eh?"

"APOLLO!" Futai and Kiwamae screamed rushing for him. "Do you realize who that is?" they shouted pointing to Zoro.

"Uh no," he shook his head tossing the towel over his shoulder and looking Zoro over. It felt slightly odd to have those violet eyes tracing him, even if it was a quick glance. Like something was wrong about them, or about him. "Why?"

"Think man," Futai egged. "Who's our favorite pirate hunter?"

A long moment of recognition passed over the younger man's face. Then his jaw dropped. Then he attempted to point at Zoro. Then he attempted to form words. "Oh my god, you're Rora-Rore-Roronah…" he trailed off realizing he couldn't say it. "ZORO!"

"Yes I am," he nodded in return. A smile replaced the look of shock, a lazy half smile that made him look like a delinquent. Then again, that wouldn't have surprised him in the least if he were a delinquent.

"Sweet!" he cheered leaping into the air. "I can't believe it! Of all the pirates that could come by I get the guys who beat Arlong, and Zoro the Pirate Hunter!"

"Fan club," Usopp snickered. Before anything else could be said, there was a knock at the door. Apollo stopped in mid cheer and everyone turned to the door.

"Oh shit," he muttered, dread coming over his face. "I totally forgot!" He looked at the Straw Hat Pirates apologetically, "I'm supposed to baby sit these kids today and I got so busy I forgot. Anyone want to cover for me, I swear they'll have a captive audience." Zoro looked at Usopp with a smirk, Luffy with a grin, and Nami with a glare. Apollo and his two friends just looked hopeful.

"Captive audience eh?" the sniper mused scratching his chin. Apollo reached for the door, "I'm your man!"

"Ok!" Apollo cheered ushering them both outside. Instantly they were greeted by the cheers of at least fifteen kids, all younger than ten years old. They called out Apollo's name a few of them trying to jump on him; one little girl succeeded and clung to his leg. He smiled and picked her up, pecked her cheek, and set her down. It was very obvious that Apollo was popular amongst the village and that he loved them all back. He threw up his hands silencing them, "Kids, I got good news and bad! Which is it?"

There was a pause amongst the rag tag kids before an older one shouted, "BAD!"

"Alrighty," Apollo smiled hands on his hips. "Bad news is that I can't watch you guys today." Moans, groans, and angry noises spurted from the kids. "Good news is this! I got one of the pirates from the ship that pulled in at the cliff today to talk to you!"

"Really? Wow! That's awesome!" The kids were all babbling together now about the fearsome and cool pirate. One of them, a young girl of about six stepped forward and asked, "Where is he?"

"Right here!" Apollo said laughing and pointing at Usopp. The kids stopped talking and stared at the now posing Usopp.

"He doesn't look like a pirate," another boy whined. Apollo whacked him in the head.

"Watch your manners!" he growled. Usopp was actually very impressed by his command over the motley crew. "This guy here, boy you should just hear some of the adventures he's had, I mean wow! This is some amazing stuff I'm telling you!" Usopp's grin widened as Apollo played up his image for him. "And now, without any further ado, I give you…"

He trailed off looking to Usopp for some kind for introductory name. Usopp leaned over and whispered to him. Apollo straightened up and shouted, "The Great Captain Usopp!"

Cheers rang out from the little kids as their storyteller was announced. Apollo patted his back and muttered, "Good luck."

"Huh?" Usopp gulped, but the villager was gone. He turned back to his audience seeing some very untrusting and unimpressed faces. "Hey there! I'm sure none of you have ever heard of me!"

"Nope," the chorused.

"Well then, none of you heard about how my crew and I defeated Arlong the Merman and his fearsome Merpeople?" The kids' jaws all dropped in shock; Usopp had them hooked.

Apollo closed the door behind him looking quite pleased with himself. He dusted his hands off as he approached the dining room, "Guess your buddy Usopp really likes telling stories. Just hope the kids don't decide to reenact them."

"Why's that?" Zoro asked taking Usopp's old place at the table.

"They can get pretty violent for little guys," Apollo chuckled nervously. He rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment and tried to change the subject, "So Sanji! How's the grub coming?"

"Came and went," the cook sighed wiping his hands off on a towel as he came into the dining room.

Apollo looked about the room slightly curious as to what his guests meant. "Uh, what does that mean exactly? I was only gone for maybe a minute tops."

"Yeah, and Sanji finished cooking about ten seconds after that," Nami explained dragging Luffy behind her from the kitchen. The pirate captain let himself be dragged as he gnawed on one last piece of the snack. "You pig, you didn't even offer any to your host!"

"I'm not hungry anyway," the host scoffed. He sat down in a chair across from Sanji, "He ate all of that, that fast?" Zoro, who was next to him, nodded grimly. Apollo whistled leaning back in the chair casually. "Now THAT is an appetite. And I thought Futai was a big eater!"

"Hey watch it!" Futai growled whapping the younger boy on the back of the head. "Just because you're smaller doesn't mean I can't smack you around a little." Apollo just laughed rubbing the back of his head. "Kiwamae's washing dishes my the way."

"Kay," the boy nodded propping one of his ankles on his knee. As Futai settled himself in an old plush chair in the living room, Apollo turned to the remaining pirates. "What brings you to our sleepy little town?"

"Didn't look that sleepy," Zoro chuckled reminding him of the pirates.

Nami sighed throwing Luffy into the remaining chair while she paced back and forth. "We really could use some supplies. Food, water, and the like. Do you think we can buy some from you guys?"

"Well," Apollo wondered staring off at the ceiling. Luffy began tilting his head up wondering just what it was their gracious host was looking at. "Food and whatnot you can get here, but if you want anything special you might have to go to the town at the east end of the island. Since this town is pretty much unknown, no one ever bothers to stock up for supplies that people might want to trade for beside the essentials. But if you go to the big town, they should have everything you're looking for." As an added thought he leaned over and added, "Especially if you're looking for trouble."

"Why do you say that?" Sanji asked lighting a cigarette up.

"Big Town, well, on the maps it's called Sorentha," Apollo explained resting his elbows on the table. "Sorentha has the nasty habit of picking up some of the scum of the earth. Not the big names like Arlong or Buggy, but more like their lackeys and grunt work men. Some days there won't be anything out of the ordinary, and other days people won't even dare to step a foot towards their door." His voice lowered along with his eyes; the crew could tell he was upset by the condition of the town. "What's even worse is that many times they'll come here. Not all of the people in Sorentha are good people either; so those jerks will send pirates down here, thinking we'll be an easy kill. When they don't hear back from them, they just assume that they left for Grandline."

Luffy leapt up slamming his hands on the table. "GRANDLINE?!?"

"Uh yes," a slightly intimidated Apollo answered leaning back.

"We are going to Grandline!" the captain announced plastering a grin on his face. The boy laughed out loud and started dancing around the room. "Grandline, we are going to Grandline! Yes we are, to Grandline! Whoo!"

Apollo leaned back laughing, almost appreciatively, at the antics of the captain. "Just you guys? Going to be an interesting trip. I've considered going there before," he added wistfully.

"Why haven't you?" Sanji asked. "If so many pirate crews come by, there's had to have been some willing to take you along. You probably could have made it in." He was slightly impressed by the boy's abilities and his easygoing attitude; it scared him a little though, he was a bit too much like Zoro for his liking.

"Dunno," he shrugged in response leaning his elbows on the table again. Luffy was still bouncing and dancing around singing his little tune, that is until Zoro grabbed his collar slamming him into a chair. "But I wish you folks all the luck you can get. Famous swordsmen can help you sure, but you're going to need more than that."

"How about a Chef from Baratie?" Zoro offered with a wry grin.

"A Navigator who bested some of the more fearsome pirates?" Sanji smiled with hearts in his eyes.

"Or a Captain who ate the Gomu-Gomu Fruit?" Nami sighed sounding slightly annoyed.

"The what?" the blood red redhead asked staring in disbelief at Luffy. "Is that a Devil Fruit of some kind? I mean, I've seen some pretty weird ones before but that's a new one."

Luffy stopped his moping, which had ensued once he was chair bound, and perked his head up with a devilish grin. "Na? Wanna see? It's fun and you should see it! It's really cool I swear! Come on, let's go!"

"Huh?" That was all that escaped the host's mouth before Luffy scrambled up and out of his chair, grabbed Apollo's arm, rushed out of the house, past Usopp and the kids, and out into the middle of the street. The rest of the crew sat stunned for a moment then Zoro and Sanji shot to their feet taking Nami, Futai, and Kiwamae with them outside.

The words, "And that's how I defeated the ghastly Worm of South Blue" drifted by as they ran.

"What the hell is that moron doing?!?" Nami squealed as they met up with them down the street.

"Watch this!" Luffy laughed winding up his arm.


	3. The Ship and The Old Woman

"Watch this!" Luffy laughed winding up his arm. "Gomu Gomu no Pistol!"

Apollo watched in amazement and awe as the Straw Hat Captain slung his arm forward in a punch. And forward. And forward. And it kept going as if it were made of rubber. Most of the kids that were listening to Usopp heard Apollo's gasp of shock and leapt up to see. Usopp just rolled his eyes but cringed as he was slightly worried to what the captain was up to. Zoro stopped behind Apollo watching to see just what he was aiming for. Luffy laughed as his Gomu Gomu Pistol rocketed through the air all the way down the empty street, towards the docks, on top of the Going Merry, and his hand clutched the mast. Nami panted as she caught up with them glaring at her idiot captain. But Kiwamae, Futai, and Apollo just stared glossy eyed, "Oh wow."

"Yeah!" Luffy laughed still holding onto the mast, while his feet remained on the ground. "Cool huh?"

"That is so cool!" Apollo laughed in pure shock. Luffy nodded enthusiastically.

Shaking his head, Sanji just lit himself another cigarette. As he did, a thought came to his head. "Luffy, shouldn't you be snapping back about now?"

"Uh oh." Luffy's feet left the ground and began launching him towards the Going Merry.

"Luffy!" the crew shouted, along with the town natives who were surprised to see the action.

The captain was thrown towards the Merry, but he knew that if he let go of the mast he would fall into the water. And that would be bad. So he just held on. And flew towards the ship. Right towards the sail.

And made a nice Luffy size hole through it.

"Shit you idiot!" Zoro hissed gritting his teeth at the mere stupidity of the boy. Sanji put a calming hand on Nami's shoulder as she tried to run over and murder him. Usopp's jaw just went slack. Apollo bit his lip feeling guilty, but felt even guiltier as Luffy's rebound action snapped him through the sail again. Making another hole.

"Dammit Luffy!" Usopp shouted. "I'm not a seamstress either you know!"

Now Apollo felt REALLY guilty.

"AH!" Luffy cackled as he was flung back to the group. He hit the dirt a few feet from them and slid on his butt all the way to Nami's dainty feet. He smiled up at her, still on a high from his high-flying demonstration. "That was fun. Can I do it again?"

"NO!" the navigator snapped whapping him on the head. Apollo winced feeling sorry for him. Before Sanji could get in a kick, the red head grabbed him.

"Wait! This is all my fault," he admitted. "If I hadn't gotten so curious about his Devil Fruit power then he wouldn't have wanted to show me."

"He would have done it anyway," Zoro muttered. Apollo shook his head, still apologizing for actions he had no control over. Some of the kids who had witnessed the act were jumping up and down asking Usopp endless questions about the rubber man.

"No, it was my fault. But," Apollo sighed aiding Luffy to his feet. He took a deep breath looking over to the sails. "I know someone who can fix those for you. She's a wiz with stuff like this – almost anything boat related she's a master at." The crew began to feel more hopeful and less angry with the captain. "If you want, I can take you over, and I'll even pay for the damage."

Nami raised a brow skeptically, "Why would you do that?"

"Because you're pirates," Apollo smiled warmly. He turned to Kiwamae and Futai shouting, "Go watch the kids for a while! Usopp, come with us!" Turning back to the rest of them he continued, "I know from experience money's really tight for most pirates, so spending what little you might have on something like that could really hurt you later. So, this is on me!"

"That's pretty damn decent of you," Zoro smirked following behind him as he led them back into town. "We usually get the 'Arrest them!' reaction."

Apollo laughed heartily as Luffy ran up to join him, throwing an arm about his neck like he was a lifelong friend. "Pirates are always welcome in Moray, just as long as they don't cause too much trouble."

"Why is that?" Usopp questioned falling in step after prying off the last tot from his leg.

"For one thing," the red head grinned patting Luffy's shoulder in an equally friendly manner, "my father was a pirate." Instantly, the entire crew, minus their captain, stopped dead in their tracks. Noticing the halt, Apollo swung their captain around to face them. "He retired though. Long before he came here."

"Oh," the whole crew muttered feeling slightly embarrassed for having jumped to conclusions. Usopp however, was thrilled to have another protégé pirate descendant around.

"See, my dad was really popular with the locals," Apollo explained motioning for them all to follow again as they continued through the town towards Apollo's home once more. "Because of his life as a pirate he was skilled in defense. Few weeks after we moved here, pirates attacked the town. My dad automatically helped the people in town to defend themselves. After the fight was over – "

"Obviously you defeated the pirates," Sanji interjected. Apollo nodded.

" – the village asked him to help keep the town safe, set up some laws, defense systems, and the sort. From then on my family has been keeping this town safe. Most of the time pirates wander into Moray looking for a port, some rest, and food, so we let them on in under the condition that they won't do anything to the people, the land, or bring any harm to anyone." By the time that was explained, they had passed Apollo's home and were nearing the edge of the forest at the end of the village. If one looked closely, just beyond the first ten feet of the dense wood was another home, much smaller, and older than any other building in the town. Detangling himself from Luffy, their new friend led them single file through the trees, motioning for them to be quiet as they followed.

Sanji, who stayed close in line, near the rear with Zoro, was skeptical of their situation. "Why are we going into the woods?" he asked to no one in particular.

"Probably where this woman he keeps talking about lives," Zoro answered. Not even a minute in the forest and they all found themselves in a clearing at one end of which the small wooden home sat.

"Here we are," Apollo announced. "Just let me see if she's in." He approached the door slowly, and then knelt down in front of it. He reached up and knocked on the door lightly, calling out, "Hello? Are you home? Old Woman?"

There was a long and heavy silence. The Straw Hat crew stared at him wondering what was going on. Until suddenly, an old, short woman appeared from the side of the house, crept up on the boy, and smacked him on the head with the staff she was carrying.

"JESUS H. TAP DANCING CHRIST!" he shouted rolling away from the woman and rubbing his head at the same time.

"Not how did we not see her coming?" Nami laughed.

"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT FOR?!?" Apollo screamed at her scrambling to his feet. The old woman smacked him again, this time in the shin. He didn't even flinch, but glared at her.

"What are you doing here Apollo?" she snapped in a gravelly voice. "And why weren't you aware of my presence?" Apollo, seeming quite angry, threw his hands up angrily.

Luffy poked the old woman's side with interest, "Woooooowww. She's old! How much of her body is wrinkles?" Before Nami or Zoro could get to him, the woman bashed his head too.

"Uh ma'am," Usopp stammered. "Apollo said – "

"That I could help you pirates?" she barked. Everyone jumped back form her.

"Look G Baba," Apollo sighed, "their sail is torn in two big rips and they need it patched."

G Baba cleared her throat nodding curtly, "And you of course offered to pay."

"Yes. So I'll give you 200 for the job," he continued.

"400."

"300 or I do it myself," he snapped back with a grin.

As if horrified by the idea, she shot back, "Yourself? It'll take you weeks and neither you or they can afford it."

"Well the festival will be postponed then," Apollo shrugged turning away. He winked to the crew before him. "And I'll leave some of the others in charge for defense so I can work."

_Oh I get it,_ Nami thought. _If she knows he'll screw up or the town's in danger she'll do the job. That's almost as good as one of my plans!_

"If you think that stupid plan is going to work, then you're just as stupid Apollo," G Baba growled, whapping his head again.

As Zoro and Sanji sniggered about his abuse, he hollered, "Dammit!"

"But," G Baba answered going over to Nami, "I will repair your sail for 300 Beri as paid by Apollo. So tell me miss, where is your ship and how big are the tears?" Instantly the old woman's attitude, although still a bit scary, seemed to soften around Nami and the others. Apollo meanwhile, was furious and standing still except for the shaking of his fists and arms from his rage. Zoro and Sanji both saw this, quietly creeping up to hold him back if necessary. The elder woman, before walking off with Nami and Usopp, reached into her pocket and tossed something to Apollo. "Here, this is for restraining yourself. At least you didn't punch anything this time."

It turned out to be a cookie, which he ate turning back into the laid back boy once more. Sanji stared at him incredulously, "What does she mean 'this time'?"

"Oh that," Apollo mumbled around the last bite of cookie. "She smacks me around a lot so I usually end up punching a tree or a wall of her house or something." He pointed to a tree nearby, "That happened last week, and she only hit me three times then."

Zoro raised a brow; the tree had a huge split in it running from a foot above the ground to the very top of the large elm. "You punched it?"

"Yup," Apollo nodded. Remembering something he added, "Oh, we should follow. Hey Luffy! Quit playing with that hammock and come on! Once she evaluates the damage we're going to need to find you a place to stay." Luffy jumped off the hammock he was inspecting and ran to Apollo, leaping onto his back as if they were brothers. "Ack!" the captain's new playmate chuckled regaining his balance. He smiled brightly at the swordsman and cook, "Your captain's friendly isn't he?"

"Unfortunately," they both nodded following them out of the clearing and back to town.

G Baba was leading Nami and Usopp back into town towards the dock so she could inspect their pathetic sail. They had lost the others farther back and neither the crewmen or the old woman seemed to care or notice. Usopp, without his captive audience, was much more subdued, but actually fascinated by the woman's authority. Strangely enough, she reminded him a little bit of a female, even more crotchety, Zeff. If that was possible.

"Uh, ma'am," he started tentatively. "When Apollo was talking about when he moved here, he kept referring to his dad in past tense. My dad's a pirate too, and I thought maybe they know each other. Was there any reason – "

"Apollo refers to his father in past tense because his father is dead."

Both navigator and sniper were shocked. Nami never knew her family, but it seemed awful for someone as happy and friendly as Apollo to loose someone he obvious looked up to. Usopp felt even worse; his father, he prayed, was still alive somewhere, but it was almost as bad. Nami was the first to pipe up again, "I'm sorry to hear that."

"Maybe he's still out at sea?" Usopp offered sadly.

"Impossible," G Baba sighed, her staff clicking on the cobblestone road with each step. "Apollo watched his father die." As if their silence egged her on, she continued, "His father was killed by a giant, poisonous, spider which was a pet to the most feared pirate in these waters. Apollo's father was trying to save his children from it until the marines would come and help him dispose of it." Darkly she said, "They didn't arrive fast enough. The beast was already gone by the time the marines came."

"What about Apollo's mother?" Nami asked cautiously. "Where is she?"

"She too died, years before her husband though. She was deathly ill," she explained. Usopp felt his heart skip a beat: mother died of sickness and the father was a pirate? Practically a tragic version of the story of his life! "But Apollo and his family never brooded long on it, but the loss of his father was a shock to him. It only encouraged him further to protect this town and work harder to become strong enough to do it alone."

"That's why he was able to defeat the Camans on his own," Nami assumed nodding slowly. Apollo's life certainly seemed difficult, but then again, everyone on the Going Merry had a sad story to tell. It was as if Luffy knew how to pick out the people whose tragedies made them stronger. _Bad idea, last thing I need is another MALE crewmember._ As they found sight of the dock, G Baba stopped staring up at the boat.

"How did that happen?" she asked almost amused.

From behind them, Apollo's voice laughed, "HE'S how it happened!"

"Bloody idiot," Zoro commented gesturing to the captain, who found Apollo a perfect substitute for legs. Apollo chuckled completely uncaring, or accustomed, to the weight on top of his back. He dumped him before G Baba's feet wiping his, still covered, brow. The first mate huffed slightly, "Can you fix it?"

"Of course I can," she snuffed. "But it will take a day or two, perhaps even three. So I suggest that you get it down and to my home as quickly as possible."

"Na?" Luffy asked slightly confused. "We have to take it down? Usopp how do you take a sail down?" The sniper shrugged and turned to Zoro. Zoro shrugged as well before nudging Sanji, who shook his head. Nami groaned in exasperation.

"I'll tell you, let's get going." As the crew began to make their way up the gangplank, G Baba following behind, Apollo called out to them from the bottom of it.

"Normally I'd help you guys with that," he explained. "But you heard me mention that festival earlier? Well I'm chairman for it this year, and I've got loads of work to do before tonight. Once you all get the sail down and to Baba's come back to my place. I'll have Futai and Kiwamae set you up for the night." He bid them goodbye, and muttered something about luck with the crazy bat.

Zoro, as he was holding back a fierce line alongside Sanji, asked him through grit teeth, "That kid, Apollo, pretty weird eh?"

"He's got more brains than you," Sanji smirked. They let up slightly as ordered by Nami. The strange new boy was preying on his mind as well; nice enough kid, friendly, smart, pretty funny too, but something was very wrong about him. "You think," he asked growing serious, "that he's hiding something?"

"Give it more line!" Nami shouted. "Usopp don't let that fall into the water you idiot!"

The swordsman turned his head slightly to raise a brow, "What, you saw it too?"

"Of course," Sanji scoffed as they slid more of the rope from their grip. Usopp and Luffy were waiting on the other side with open arms to catch the sail as it was lowered, Nami folding it and smoothing it out for easier movement. "He's too carefree, too trusting, and he just seems to be so damn happy. He's got something up his sleeve."

"Don't forget the way he fought," Zoro added with a smile. "To go from the friendly smile to that sheer determination in pretty rare."

Sanji smirked, "Yeah, except with us." As an afterthought he said, "By 'us' I mean You, Luffy, and I."


End file.
